This spring, thousands of high school students across the United States submitted their Advanced Placement (AP) Art and Design course portfolios to College Board for evaluation. What used to be a high-stress and somewhat private experience between students, teachers, and College Board scorers has recently developed into a celebratory TikTok trend as high schoolers have taken to sharing their year of hard work with the public.
AP Art and Design courses range from drawing, 2-D media, and 3-D media, and portfolios are comprised of a “Sustained Investigation,” in which students produce a series of 15 artworks related to a specific topic of their choice, and supplemented by five select works that illuminate their technical skills. The portfolios are graded on a scale of one through five and can count toward college credits — but there’s nothing like public opinion to put one’s skills to the test.
Following their submissions, various students have been sharing portfolio selections on TikTok using the same sound, which samples from Joji’s “Slow Dancing in the Dark.” It looks like the trend started in 2020 during quarantine restrictions, but was ultimately successful as it continues in its fourth year.
Completing his junior year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Justin Heard examined his life through self-portraits for his Sustained Investigation this year. Actively sharing his artistic endeavors on TikTok and Instagram, Heard explained in an email to Hyperallergic that he saw the AP Art Portfolio trend recently and wanted for his work to reach like-minded high school students and artists.
Taarena Rathore, a high school senior from Dallas, Texas, who is set to study Communications Design at Pratt Institute this fall, shared her 3-D Art portfolio translating elements of her childhood into contemporary forms. In an email to Hyperallergic, Rathore said that she joined TikTok in 2020 as a ninth grader and saw upper-grade students across the country sharing their portfolios online.
“When I finally completed my AP Drawing portfolio as a junior, I posted it, and I did the same with both of the portfolios I did this year which were for both 3-D and 2-D,” Rathore noted, explaining that this was her second go at the trend.
On the topic of competitiveness, Rathore said that she doesn’t view the trend as a means of comparing oneself to others, but rather “the final step to completing the portfolio.”
“It definitely feels more rewarding when it gains more attraction because I like seeing what people have to say about it,” Rathore continued. “The people who saw it before I posted the TikTok also saw the behind-the-scenes throughout the whole year, but everyone else who saw my video saw the pieces for the first time and only saw the result. This allowed some to interpret it in different ways, or others to relate to the themes which was validating to me.”
Rathore also completed and shared an AP 2-D portfolio in which she explored self-acceptance through the color red.
Completing her junior year in Georgia, Grace Wang illustrated the impact of scoliosis on her life through different media for her sustained investigation in the AP 2-D course.
“By investigating this topic, I felt like I was able to not only understand myself better but hopefully have my art connect with others who feel the same,” Wang said in an email to Hyperallergic. “[Scoliosis] has affected many areas of my life such as my ability to play tennis, sleep comfortably, and even my insecurities.”
Like Rathore, Wang explained that the portfolio sharing trend appeared on her TikTok For You page about two years ago, and she’s wanted to participate since.
“There is no competitive element to sharing my portfolio,” Wang noted. “I only want people to be able to connect and relate to my work, and I believe many others who share their portfolios on TikTok desire the same.”
Wang said she’s interested in pursuing user experience and user interface design in order to keep an element of creativity in her career, aiming to maintain traditional artmaking as a hobby in the future.
Over in Gilbert, Arizona, high school graduate Hailey Schramm lovingly documented life on the go with her first car for her AP art portfolio in 2023.
“I’m intrigued by the idea of humans forming emotional bonds with inanimate objects,” Schramm said in an email to Hyperallergic, also noting that she documented her portfolio process at length in a short film she released just last month.
“In my experience, whenever I want to escape, process my emotions, sing at the top of my lungs, or have some fun, my car is there for me,” she said. “It also provides a sense of independence and freedom, allowing me to explore and experience the world on my own terms.”
Schramm said she learned about the trend through TikTok user @caamileon about two years ago and was deeply inspired by their portfolio. She wanted to participate as well in case her own artwork could bring that sentiment to someone else down the line.
“It’s about the thrill of sharing my portfolio with a wider audience, and hopefully being a source of inspiration,” Schramm explained. “By putting my work out there and connecting with people on social media, I hope to grow a supportive community that appreciates my art, so that one day I can turn my passion into a career.”
Having graduated in 2023, Schramm took a gap year to explore her options in the creative industry, including her foray into film.
Though everyone is vying for a five on their portfolio, there’s at least one person who gets top scores for their sense of humor:
